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racaldwell wrote:The next test I want to do in the corrosion chambers would be the SS pulled rivets and 2117 AD rivets and some cad plated bolts. Stay tuned.

Rick

We have been waiting for a while, how did that go? :)

I am looking at blurry photos of an 18 year old Sonex with visible yellowing around many rivet seams. I cannot get a lot of info and am going to inspect in person but I am anticipating that I'm seeing either sealant or galvanic corrosion from stainless rivets.

Or Corrosion-X oozing out the seams.

Like everything dealing with corrosion, it depends on lots of factors. Near the ocean, that's a huge factor in lobbying for excellent protection. Inland outside of Boston, in typical snow, rain and sun, my polished Sonex with stainless steel rivets has zero corrosion anywhere. Not even a hint. I had the plane outdoors with a canopy cover for 5 years, and no corrosion on the skins.

And I take a solid 2 weeks to do my annual condition inspection, including borescope inspections in hard to access places, so I'm pretty confident in that statement. In the Arizona desert, also probably not a big issue either. In a wet, tropical environment, probably a good idea to protect everything the best you can.

Since I didn't deem in necessary in my environment, I chose to save the weight. Because yes, corrosion protection does add weight, and my VW is weight-challenged as it is.

I'm about to start building an RV-7. Vans notes they don't believe corrosion protection is necessary unless you're in one of those particularly corrosive environments, so I'm choosing to simplify and save weight by not adding protective finishes inside. This plane, unlike the Sonex, will definitely be painted on the outside, however.

GraemeSmith wrote:Or Corrosion-X oozing out the seams.

Ah, I think you nailed it. This plane has had a desert life, I was confused when I saw it but Duralac looks just like it.

Sorry, I procrastinated too long on the 2nd SWAAT test. Now I retired last month so it will never happen, by me anyway.

Rick Caldwell
Xenos 0057 phase 1: 34 hrs

racaldwell wrote:Sorry, I procrastinated too long on the 2nd SWAAT test. Now I retired last month so it will never happen, by me anyway.

Congratulations on the retirement!!